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The bad end of the bargain?: Revisiting the relationship between collective bargaining agreements and student achievement

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  • Marianno, Bradley D.
  • Strunk, Katharine O.

Abstract

This paper revisits the relationship between teacher collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and student achievement. Using a district-level dataset of California teacher CBAs that includes measures of overall and subarea contract strength linked to district-level panel data, we build on prior work by controlling for unobserved fixed and time-varying confounders. This study demonstrates that naïve pooled OLS estimates of student achievement on overall CBA strength are larger and more negative than lagged achievement and within-district estimates, signifying a negative bias in the naïve levels models. When controlling for time invariant and time-varying unobservables, the relationship between CBA strength and student achievement is persistently negative and small, or null, but never significantly positive. This relationship extends to specific CBA subareas and to subgroups of students. These findings have important implications for new reforms designed to weaken teacher collective bargaining rights.

Suggested Citation

  • Marianno, Bradley D. & Strunk, Katharine O., 2018. "The bad end of the bargain?: Revisiting the relationship between collective bargaining agreements and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 93-106.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:65:y:2018:i:c:p:93-106
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.04.006
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    2. Martins, Pedro S., 2022. "The wage effects of employers' associations: A case study of the private schools sector," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1163, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Wagner, Gary A. & Elder, Erick M., 2021. "Campaigning for retirement: State teacher union campaign contributions and pension generosity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Lyon, Melissa Arnold, 2021. "Heroes, villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers, students, and education policymaking," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Bradley D. Marianno & Paul Bruno & Kathrine O. Strunk, 2021. "The Effect of Teachers’ Union Contracts on School District Efficiency: Longitudinal Evidence From California," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, February.
    6. Annie A. Hemphill & Bradley D. Marianno, 2021. "Teachers’ Unions, Collective Bargaining, and the Response to COVID-19," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 170-182, Winter.
    7. Abadía Alvarado, Luz Karime & Gómez Soler, Silvia C. & Cifuentes González, Juanita, 2021. "The effect of teacher strikes on academic achievement: Evidence from Colombia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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